A new concept in fitness has been introduced at the Tone Zone gym at the Waterfront Center on Pitts Bay road in which there will be only one survivor.

"Survivor Zone" is the brainchild of husband and wife team Nick and Jayne Jones who run the private gym under their new company No Excuses Lifestyle Management.

The gym is private to employees of companies in the Waterfront property and Survivor Zone has created bonds between people within companies, between companies and helped kick-start them into healthy living.

Survivor Zone, according to Mr. Jones is a cross between reality TV shows Survivor, The Race and The Mole, but with a distinctly Bermudian twist.

A total of nine teams with six people in each are taking part in the six-week competition which aims to promote fitness, fun and team spirit within and across different companies.

As team members may often need to travel during the competition, reserves are often called in to participate, and a total of 75 people are all vying to be the final survivor.

Having spent literally hundreds of hours putting the programme together, the event has been running very smoothly since it started on August 9.

Helping keep the competition on track, and ensuring participants are getting a great workout are the three fearsome officers in charge, Jayne and Nick Jones, also known as Captain Jayne Jones and Lieutenant Nick "Sporty" Jones and helping whip the willing recruits into shape is Sally Wombwell aka Sergeant Sally Wombwell.

The teams were randomly drawn from those who signed up and they were all given a coloured bandana unique to their team. This had to be worn at all times during the competition and on casual Friday's lest the whip-cracking trainers in charge order a player to "drop and give me twenty!"

Penalties are a part of the game, and can be doled out for a multitude of offences such as not wearing one's bandana. "Roadblocks" are also included as well as penalty questions and mystery challenges, keeping competitors guessing and on their toes.

The game lasts for six weeks and has been organised into three rounds. Round one consisted of 18 days of mental and physical exercise. Each task had to be completed between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the working week and each team had to complete a list of tasks to race around an imaginary map of the Island such as climbing the stairs at Gibbs Hill Light house, while actually using the stair masters in the gym.

Tasks encompassed all levels of fitness and the game was designed so that all team members participated. For example, the first task in round one was 7 miles of running or walking and all six team members had to complete a minimum of one mile. The first round consisted of 45 such tasks, mainly physical in nature.

Only the three top teams advanced to round two which involved more mental tasks such as drawing caricatures which were then judged by heads of competitor's companies.

During round two - which started last Friday and consists of ten days of undisclosed survivor games lasting 30 minutes - the team concept ended and only 16-18 people remained, one of which was eliminated every day.

Round three begins next Friday and consists of six mini rounds eliminating one person per round, leaving only two players.

Survivor Zone ends on the Saturday with challenges for the remaining participants, followed by the "Finale Party" where the winner will be chosen by all of the competitors, followed by a party for all those involved at a secret location.

Lieutenant "Sporty" Nick Jones said the aim of the competition was to provide team spirit, stress relief, fitness both cardiovascular and strength and to encourage nonactive members to become active.

He said the competition provides something for everyone as well as a fitness challenge every week, and the main aim of Survivor was "to have fun!"

The competition was designed to keep participants together at all times and it was designed to have a minimum and a maximum so that every one was involved.

The beauty of the game, said Mr. Jones was: "Anybody can win."

While Survivor prizes do not include a cheque for $1 million, they do include a travel voucher, two nights for two in a local hotel, as well as "No excuses" jackets and Tone Zone goody bags.

Competitors have sung the praises of Survivor. Centre-Re's Tracy Suber said: "Well done Tone Zone staff, you've managed to stretch our limbs, stimulate our minds and challenge those forgotten muscles, and who said the gym is no fun!" She also requested no more skips or sit ups.

Although not a competitor, Centre Solutions' Richard Winchell said the competition had contributed to the health and happiness of the staff and had opened communication intercompany and encouraged friendly competition.

Centre's Sarah Smith said: "It has been great fun working together with colleagues from different areas not only within Centre but from other companies." She added: "Survivor has reached bits on my body never reached before!"

Blue Flames team member James O'Shaughnessy of Zurich said Jayne, Nick and Sally deserved a lot of credit for their effort, enthusiasm and encouragement and said: "Great team spirit... got a lot of us back on the fitness track and used muscles we didn't know existed."

Gayle Gorman of the eVenture Centre said: "Survivor Zone has provided all team members with an incentive to make fitness a priority, and like all priorities, we've made the time to hit the gym everyday.

Now that we can find at least 30 minutes a day for exercise - and really push ourselves while we're at it - hopefully we'll all keep it up after Survivor Zone has been completed and achieve the lasting benefits of regular exercise!"

Centre-Re's Lynn Burns said: "Take a little bit of team building, add a whole lot of friendship, coupled with a healthy diet and you have the recipe for Tone Zone Survivor. A successful formula which fund me 12 pounds lighter at its completion." She thanked the organisers for their hours of organisation and added: "I have had a hard time getting back into working out since my daughter was born ten months ago and this is the added kick that I needed."

Captain Jayne Jones said the competition had been amazingly good fun and that competitors had worked very hard to the point where they didn't care about the prizes. The name of the game was fitness and competing for the thrill of it.

Although the Survivor competition is almost finished, Mr. Jones said it was just the beginning. Plans are already being drawn up for the next competition which he promised would be even bigger, but as in much of the game, exactly what that means remains a secret.